Spring Green and Pale Pink
by IcyPanther
Summary: Her lips twitched as Draco set the spring green colored Slytherin egg on the drying rack. “So pale pink and spring green are the new Gryffindor and Slytherin colors, huh?” Complete


**Spring Green and Pale Pink**

"Harry, be a dear and carry these for me."

"W-wait, what?" came the startled response as a bunch of old _Daily Prophets _were thrust into Harry's arms and nearly sent him stumbling backwards. Hermione gave no acknowledgement as she treated Ron in the same fashion and continued out the portrait door.

Ron gave Harry a befuddled look around his own mound of paper. He'd just been minding his own business, standing there all casual like and trying to peek over Dean's shoulder at their astronomy homework when this had to happen. "Are we supposed to follow her?" he asked, lfetting a few wayward pages fall haplessly to the floor.

Harry just shrugged and started out after their best friend, doing his best to keep the papers together. Hermione was already halfway down the hall by the time they exited Gryffindor, her curls bouncing along with her every step and a large canvas bag slung over one shoulder.

"This is stupid," Ron muttered, scuffing his feet on the ground. "Where are we going? It's a Saturday! There's not supposed to be random trips anywhere other than Hogsmeade on Saturdays!"

"Dunno. Hermione's been pretty excited about something all day though."

"Really?"

"She let you copy her Transfiguration essay no questions asked."

"Huh, you're right."

Ron suddenly stopped, face going white and causing the freckles to pop out. "We didn't miss her birthday, did we?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Honestly Ron, we've known her for eight years now. Her birthday is in September, remember? It's April third."

"Oh… phew, I really worried there for a second."

Shaking his head, Harry continued following Hermione, finally almost caught up due to his long strides. "Where are we going, Mione?"

"To the kitchens."

"Why are we going to the kitchens?" he asked after realizing she wasn't going to elaborate.

"Are the house elves making us a feast?" Ron asked, momentarily pausing his grumbling.

"No, I just have to pick up something," Hermione said. "If you want, you can head on out to the east courtyard. Ginny and the others should already be there."

The boys exchanged another glance.

"Why do I feel we're the only ones out of the loop?" Ron whispered.

"Because we probably are."

"I can hear you, you know. Now, hurry up and go set up. I'll be there in a few minutes."

Giving their friend one last, odd look, Harry and Ron scurried off, hoping someone in the courtyard could tell them what was going on.

As soon as they rounded the bend, Ginny was on top of them (well, namely Harry) and plucking the newspapers away to spread out on two long picnic tables.

A bunch of their friends — Neville, Seamus, Luna, Lavender, and Parvati — were sitting at the tables, and got up to help.

"Are we having a picnic or something?" Ron asked. "On newspapers?"

"You'll see," Ginny sing-songed. It was always nice to have one up on her older brother. "And look, here comes Hermione now."

Said Gryffindor appeared, a few dozen cartons of eggs floating in front of her and the bag still hanging heavily off her shoulder.

"Why in Merlin's name did you bring those?" Ron asked as Hermione gently lowered the boxes onto the table. "Not that I'm complaining since it's food and all, but…"

"We're dying Easter eggs, Ron," Hermione said, opening the cartons and sending them down the table in neat, orderly rows.

"What?"

Hermione's voice adopted the I-know-something-you-don't-so-now-I'm-going-to-teach-you tone and Ron whimpered.

"The egg was originally seen as a sign of rebirth by the pagans during spring. Like how new life comes when a chick emerges from an egg. The Zoroastrians, who were the first monotheistic religion, painted eggs to celebrate Nowruz, their New Year Celebration that fell during the Spring Equinox.

"For the Christian tradition, the egg symbolizes the grave and life renewed and the resurrection by breaking out of the shell, like how Jesus came out of the tomb. The egg is seen as the declaration resurrection and how new life lies dormant inside the egg. They were traditionally dyed red to symbolize Jesus' blood, but over the years the colors have changed to include spring pastels and designs."

The group looked at her with mostly glazed eyes, save Luna, who was twirling an egg on the table.

Hermione sighed. She hadn't been expecting much. "Basically, we're going to decorate these eggs for fun. They're all hard-boiled, so if you crack one don't worry. After that we can all just eat them at our leisure, and I told Professor McGonagall that we'd use the rest at dinner tomorrow since it is Easter. Plus, we were going to hold a remembrance vigil, remember? I figured we could write the names of everyone and then put them in the middle or something. Sound fun?"

The mood had grown slightly darker at the mention of everyone they had lost. Hermione took the opportunity to chuck an egg at Ron, who ducked, stumbled backwards, and somehow flipped over the table. The group burst into laughter and Ron rubbed the back of his head, embarrased, but at least the good mood was back.

"So we can eat them when we're done?" the redhead clarified, scrambling to his feet.

"Yes Ron, you can eat them."

After explaining the basics of dying the eggs and the use of wax crayons and tape, the group, now plus Dean, were passing around the mugs of various colors and turning their eggs into something… well, different.

"Ron, you have to let the first color dry before you dump it in another color," Hermione said, looking sadly at the blotchy brown egg Ron had created. "See?" She held up her own egg, which first had been in the yellow and now the blue, giving it an almost teal-green color. Her name was written neatly in cursive on it from the wax crayon.

Ron cradled his egg in his hand. "But I like brown."

Hermione just sighed and went back to her own eggs.

The dying continued on peacefully for the next half-hour, an accumulation of eggs piling up on the drying racks at the end of the table. More and more students caught sight of the activity and came down to help, so it went even quicker than Hermione had anticipated.

She pushed a wayward curl out of her face with the back of her hand, trying not to stain her cheeks blue and pink. Most of her eggs were done (she considered herself a professional egg decorator) and she was content to watch everyone else actually behave as the children they were and not the adults they'd been forced to become over the last year. Watching Ginny fingerpainting Harry's face with the dyes and Luna spinning the eggs across the table into Dean's waiting hands made her happier than she had ever been.

In another pile off to the side from the fun decorated eggs, they'd written the names of their friends and loved ones who hadn't made it out of the battle. It was bigger than Hermione would have liked.

"Hey Hermione, we're done!" Ron grinned, a cracked eggshell next to him and the first of many eggs in his mouth. Further down the table Ginny was giving the pile of eggs a quick drying spell while Harry and Neville helped load them into the cartons.

With practiced ease Lavender levitated the full cartons. "Are we bringing these all to the kitchens?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes, just make sure you keep one or two for yourself." She turned her attention to her red-haired friend, who was still munching on eggs. "Or a dozen in Ron's case."

The group started to meander away. "Do you need help cleaning up?" Harry asked as Hermione began to crumple the used newspapers together and place the named eggs in their own seperate cartons. She didn't want them accidentally going to the kitchens.

"Oh, I'm good Harry. I'll be up in a little bit." Her posture was somewhat rigid and the smile on her face was a tad too bright for what she was saying and Harry realized immediately what she wanted. Easter had, as he'd learned, always been her favorite holiday to spend with her parents. This was the second year without them, but last year they had been so busy with taking down Voldemort it hadn't been missed as much. Now, with the peaceful spring they finally deserved, it was a clear reminder.

"Just come get me if you need anything, all right?" he said, giving her shoulder a soft squeeze.

With a short nod, Hermione was soon left alone with a few remaining eggs and cups of dye. Sinking down on one of the benches, Hermione gently twirled an egg between her fingertips. It was a pale yellow, with blue and green rivulets running down from where she'd poured the dye on top. Her mum had taught her that.

"I miss you." Her fingers lovingly traced the woman's name written on the egg, a small flower next to it and mixing with the yellow and blue. A tear slipped down her cheek and plopped onto the egg, leaving a little white-ish yellow circle of mismatched dye. It sort of looked like a tiny sun.

She grinned at that. And then grimaced and shrieked as something collided with the back of her head, throwing her forward from the impact.

Hand automatically clutching the injured spot, she whirled around, honey eyes landing immediately on the figure of Draco Malfoy, a sneer twisting his face and the wind lightly tugging at his long sleeved emerald shirt. "Too bad it wasn't raw."

"Too bad I had to see you," she said, rising to her feet and gently placing the egg she'd been holding on the table. The one Draco had thrown lie in pieces on the ground.

She'd learned over the last year the best way to deal with the Slytherin was to ignore him. She wasn't like Harry and especially Ron where his taunts bothered her. She'd heard it all before and there wasn't much worse he could do. As she turned her back to him and finished placing the eggs in the carton she could feel his gaze boring a hole into her back.

With a huff she turned around, eyes flashing. "Did you need something, Malfoy? Or have you just come to grace me with your presence?"

"I was just bored and bothering you is a favorite pastime." He picked up another egg from the pile and lobbed it at the girl, who this time saw it coming and froze it in the air.

"Well, I'm afraid I don't have time to entertain you today, Malfoy. Run along and go play with your little Slytherin friends."

Hermione allowed herself a small grin as she turned back around, practically feeling the gaping look Draco was sporting. She didn't want to pick a fight, but damn if it didn't feel good to be the one ruffling his feathers.

When she still felt him behind her a minute later she sighed in annoyance. "Seriously, Malfoy? If you keep hanging around I'm going to think you like my company."

He visibly recoiled. "Why would I want to be seen in your presence, Granger?" A pale hand reached out and picked up another egg, devious smirk crossing his features. "Can you dodge them all?"

She looked at him, confused. "What?"

The confusion didn't last. Draco began to throw the eggs with as much force as a bludger, giving her almost no time to freeze them all and lower them gently onto the ground. Several unfortunate eggs got by and either hit her or sailed past and hit the courtyard wall.

Draco laughed darkly as a pale purple egg smashed into Hermione's wand hand and sent the stick of wood flying. Hermione's mouth formed a little "o" of surprise and then horror, realizing she wasn't going to save all the eggs. And these weren't just any eggs… they were the ones she'd made for her deceased friends.

"Malfoy, stop!" She dodged another egg, wincing as it smashed into the stone. "Stop it!"

He went to throw another egg at her, before his hand froze when he saw the name. He stared at it for a second and then set the egg almost tenderly back on the table. And then, without a word, he stalked off, shoulders stiff and hands clenched in fists by his side.

As soon as he was out of sight, Hermione carefully manuvered around the eggs on the ground, and reached for the one Draco had left. She doubted he'd stopped throwing on her behalf… who ever's name was on that egg was someone important to the Slytherin.

"Severus Snape" stared back at her from the teal-green egg. Oh.

She glanced up at where Draco had been standing and then to the one case of still white eggs and the cups of dye on the table. A smile played over her lips and she set to work.

xxx

A little while later with all the damaged eggs now remade, Hermione made her way down towards the dungeons, a satchel hanging off her shoulder with several eggs nestled inside.

Being Head Girl had perks, and one of them was knowing the password for every house. Which was going to come in very handy since otherwise she wouldn't be able to pull this off. She doubted he'd want to be seen in public with her. But after longing for Head Girl for so long, she had come to realize it wasn't all that she'd imagined it to be. Or maybe the last year had shown her how inconsequential a title could be.

Fortunately though, Ernie had been named Head Boy; she could work with him and actually get things done and he was pleasant to work with. It could have been a lot worse. However, due to a large part of the castle being damaged, with the Head's house caught in the middle, she and Ernie had both been asked if they wouldn 't mind just staying in their respective houses. They both agreed.

Personally, Hermione was glad. There was something comforting about sleeping amongst her friends and knowing they were there if she needed them. She didn't think she'd ever be able to sleep alone in a room ever again. She'd have to see if maybe some of her friends wanted to rent a flat or something after they graduated; she was not living alone. She couldn't.

"Crystal dragon," she said once she reached the portion of stone wall that led into the den of snakes. The first few times she'd come down she'd been terrified. But there was really nothing to be afraid of. Hardly any Slytherins had returned and those that did kept to themselves. They were nowhere near the power they had always treasured.

Only Malfoy hadn't changed too much, Hermione mused as she descended down the staircase to the seventh year boy's dormitory. He wasn't quite as cocky and arrogant, but he still had his sense of superiority and condescending attitude. She was thankful for it… of all the things that had changed, at least she could always rely on Malfoy to be a prick.

So why she was doing this she wasn't quite sure.

She shivered in the drafty dungeon, thankful she'd thought to throw on a light sweater, and halted outside of the door. Malfoy was the only seventh year that had returned. All the others had been killed, save somehow Bulstrode, who had instead dropped out.

With a last deep breath, she raised her hand and thudded it to the door. Seconds later it opened, revealing the person she wanted to see least and yet most. As soon as he registered who it was, Draco made to shut the door, but Hermione had been waiting for that and froze it in a block of ice to keep it open.

"I'm afraid I don't have time to entertain you today, Granger. Go run along and play with your freaky Gryffindor friends." Having her words thrown back in her face surprised her at first, but she quickly got over it and shot back with her own retort.

"Lucky for you Malfoy I didn't come here to be entertained."

If there was one thing Hermione could take away from those months spent in hiding and searching for Horcruxes, it was that being polite didn't always get you what you wanted. Sometimes you just needed to be more aggressive. Channeling that thought, Hermione pushed Malfoy back and entered the room, leaving a slightly stunned Slytherin behind.

"Are you coming?" she asked, sitting herself down on the floor, one blue jean leg crossed over another.

He didn't move, arms against his chest and a scowl on his face. "What do you want, Granger?"

"For you to listen."

Draco scoffed but did nothing else, mind racing beneath the calm exterior. He and Granger rarely interacted. When they did it was to throw barbs (with him the victor) and walk away. Granted he had hardly seen her all year since he was trying to avoid the Gryffindor trio, but when had she gotten a backbone? He knew she could stand up for herself, but seeking him out purposefully was stupid and dangerous. He wasn't one of her Gryffindor friends.

"How do you know I won't kill you?"

It was her turn to raise an eyebrow. "If you wanted me dead you would have already done something. Besides, you're no killer, Malfoy.

The scowl deepened and Malfoy left his post by the door, but chose to sit on the end of his bed rather than the ground. Only stupid muggleborns sat on the ground.

Hermione had been pulling things from her bag and now on the floor were several eggs, a few cups, a bottle of vinegar, spoons, paper towels, and some odd looking tablets. She held up an egg, already painted, that was very familiar to Draco. "Do you know what this is?"

He shrugged. "An egg."

"Not just any egg. It's an Easter egg." And she knew from the silence that he was just as confused as Ron was to the whole thing. "Have you ever heard of Easter?"

He gave a stiff shake of his head.

"It's a Christian religious holiday that speaks about resurrection and new life. It's a time for celebration and remembrance of all that Jesus did for us."

"And?"

Her voice quieted and she gazed down at the egg in her palm. "Last year we all lost people we cared about. So this year we're using Easter to reflect back on their lives and remember them for the wonderful people they were. We're all painting eggs and are going to do a prayer circle tomorrow night, and then a celebration for the lives they had and the people they were."

"That sounds lovely, "Draco said dryly. "So again, and why does this matter?"

She glanced up now, forcing herself to make contact with that brilliant silver. "Because we all lost people, Malfoy. We all suffered. And I think we should all come together to remember them."

He turned away. "That only works for you Gryffindors. I was on the wrong side, remember?"

"Sides don't matter anymore. You're hurting, just like the rest of us. I… I just wanted to try and help."

Draco remained silent.

"When I saw you put down Snape's egg I knew you missed him too," she continued quietly. "I was never that close to him, but I assume Snape was to you what McGonagall is to me. Maybe even more. It's okay to miss them. But you can never go on in life if you don't let the past go. We all made choices, Malfoy. Some good, some bad, and some truly awful. But we can't change what happened then, we can only change the future. So I wanted to try and at least bridge that gap and invite you to join us."

"Touching, but the last thing I need is to be surrounded by Gryffindors who all blame me for everyone's deaths."

Despite the severity of the situation, Hermione had to give a tiny smile. She could tell he was affected, the undercurrent of guilt was obvious in his words.

"Do you want to at least try to make an Easter egg?" she asked after a minute. "You don't even have to put anyone's name if you don't want… but it's fun and you can eat it later."

"Will it get you out of my room?"

Hermione laughed at that, but didn't answer.

She filled the cups up with vinegar and added the color tablets. When she turned to pick up an egg, she noticed Draco had sat down on the floor and was writing on an egg with the wax. Since she hadn't shown him that, she knew he had to have been watching them for part of the afternoon. It was sort of sad that he felt he couldn't approach them. But true as well.

"What did you write?" When he glanced up sharply she realized how her question could be taken. "Nevermind... it's all right."

He raised an eyebrow and then held the egg up, belatedly realizing she couldn't see anything on it. "Slytherin."

"I'll do a Gryffindor then."

She pulled the cup of dark looking red liquid to her, while Draco grabbed the green. "The longer you let it sit, the darker color it turns," she said, rotating her egg gently with the spoon.

After a few minutes of silence, Hermione plucked her egg from the tub and laughed. A lovely shade of pink looked back at her.

Draco pulled his out and scowled. "I thought it would be darker."

"They're all darker in the cups," she said, lips twitching as Draco set the spring green colored Slytherin egg on the drying rack. "So pale pink and spring green are the new Gryffindor and Slytherin colors, huh?"

Draco muttered something that sounded like, "over my dead body."

Hermione rose to her feet and picked up the empty satchel. "I'm going to head back. I have a lot of homework I want to get done tonight before the celebration tomorrow. If you do want to come to our vigil, it's at nine p.m. in the room of requirement. We'll keep the door open, so drop by if you like."

Draco's voice stopped her before she reached the door. "You forgot your egg."

"It's okay, I'm sure you'll bring it."

And Hermione left the dungeon with almost a spring in her step, still laughing inwardly about the pastel colors that now represented their houses.

xxx

Sunday passed by quickly. Hermione had awoken to a giant plastic Easter egg at the foot of her bed and filled with chocolates and candies, and from there spent the day mostly studying before attending a quiet lunch with friends and then sitting outside in the warm April air. Dinner had been a magnificent affair and all the eggs (sans the ones with friend's names on them) had been served along with a prayer for all those affected by the war and a moment of silence for those that didn't make it.

After that they were on their own for about two hours, most of which Hermione spent setting up the room of requirement. Squishy pillows were laid out on the floor for them to sit on, and the eggs sat atop a piece of ice to keep them from going bad. Candles provided the light, their soft glow welcoming as people filed in.

They kept the introduction brief as newcomers from outside Hogwarts put their own eggs in the center and then sat down in the ever widening circle. Amongst the candlelight, they sat quietly, sometimes crying softly, sometimes laughing at a fond memory.

Hermione was in the process of picturing Tonks when she and Ginny had tried to teach her how to properly scourgify a room —A chaotic mess involving firecrackers and firewhisky and an irate Hedwig had somehow come out of it — when the sound of footsteps approached. It was well past 9:30, and everyone that had r.s.v.p.-ed had already arrived. So who…?

She turned her neck, smile widening as she caught sight of Draco, hovering in the doorway and still unnoticed by the rest of the crowd. A small bag was in his arms, and she could only guess he'd brought some eggs. But the hesitation in his stance was difficult to miss and she knew entering a room where everyone had once been considered an enemy and still considered him one was pretty much terrifying.

She rose up from her cushion, drawing the stares and then the attention of Harry and Ron, who scowled at the new arrival. She ignored them and went over to Draco. "So you came?" she whispered.

"I couldn't let you forget Snape," he whispered back. "It wouldn't be fair."

"Are you going to join us?"

"Will I be killed?" He almost looked serious.

"Come on." She pulled him gently by his jacket into the room. "Place your eggs in the center and then come sit by me."

Strangely enough, the idea of him sitting next to her wasn't as revolting as it would have been a few days ago. He followed her cautiously, by now having drawn almost everyone's attention and more than a couple glares. But he ignored them and knelt down next to the sparkling ice and started to lay out the eggs he'd brought.

Severus Snape, the one Hermione had made, went first. Then came "Narcissa", "Lucius" (not mother or father she noted sadly) and then a surprising one that said "Godfather." The eggs of "Pansy", "Blaise", "Crabbe," and "Goyle" came next and then he pulled out the two they'd made together.

That done, he rose with all the grace of a cat and sat down almost regally on the cushion next to Hermione and next to Harry. She knew better than to put him in distance of Ron. He sat silent next to her, looking every bit like he was chipped out of marble, but there was a slight mist to his eyes that she'd never seen before.

The moment was ruined when Ron finally jumped to his feet after about a minute and pointed an accusing finger at Malfoy. "What the bloody hell are you doing here, Malfoy? You're not welcome!"

"Ron…" Hermione went to put a placating hand on his arm, but by now others were voicing their opinions and none of them friendly.

Accusations were running rampant, cries of murderer ringing out and tempers flaring. Everywhere Hermione looked she only saw rage and hatred, even in the normally gentle eyes of Molly Weasley.

"Listen!" she called, but her words were swallowed by the now screaming people.

Amidst all of it, Draco sat silently for another few seconds, gaze locked on the large pile, before he rose. Giving one, cool and appraising glance — no one but Hermione noticed his hands shaking — around the room, he left, an almost leisurely stroll to his step that seemed to infuriate everyone even more.

Only Harry, Hermione saw dimly, was not screaming obscenities, but merely looking at the eggs Draco had left behind. But since he wasn't doing anything, she would have to.

Flicking her wand at her throat and muttering the charm announcers used, she boomed, "STOP THAT NOW!"

The room almost immediately fell silent and Hermione released the charm, appraising them as Draco had.

"What the hell, Hermione?" Ron asked, glaring heatedly at her. "You brought bloody Malfoy?"

"I didn't bring him, Ron," she said, but addressing the entire room. "I invited him to join us if he wanted to."

"Why would you do that?" whispered George, tear-streaked face tugging painfully at Hermione's heart. "Look at what he's done."

"Malfoy made bad choices, yes," Hermione said, clenching and unclenching her fists. "But we all have."

The yelling broke out again, and Hermione weathered it like a tiny sapling in a thunder storm, cringing at every accusation and wishing it would end, but knowing there was at least one person much worse off than she. When everyone finally exhausted themselves from yelling and had to draw a second breath, she intervened.

"This… this night," she said, voice shaking with so many things she couldn't even name them, "is supposed to honor our friends and comrades. We're supposed to forgive and look toward the future and what that represents. Easter," she choked out, "is all about sacrifice. It's about the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus who gave up his life to save us all. You don't have to be religious to understand. We all gave something up for this war, we all lost someone. Did you, any of you, ever stop and think that we aren't the only ones hurting?"

She pointed at the contribution of eggs Draco had made. "See those? Those were all people that he lost. He's hurting and unlike us he doesn't have anyone to turn to. While we might see it as necessary, we killed his friends to win this war. We took another's life to save our own. And Malfoy is the sole survivor of that. Even though I lost…" she stopped, feeling the tears trickling down her face. "Even though I lost my parents, I have all of you. I have Molly and Arthur and Professor McGonagall and all of my friends. You are my family. And who does Malfoy have?"

She glanced around at the upturned faces. "He had no one. But now he has me. And I'm not going to let you all scream at him for some things you know he had no control over." She whirled to Harry, who was staring at her with inquisitive green eyes. "You said he was forced into trying to kill Dumbledore, right?"

He nodded, but looked away, unable to hold her eyes. "They were holding his parent's lives against him."

She turned back to the group. "We all might have loathed Lucius Malfoy, but he was still someone's father. We're not the saints everyone thinks. We've all done things we're not proud of and it's not fair to hold it against one person for his entire life. Malfoy came here tonight to show us he's not the person we all think him to be. I'm trying to look past what he's done and instead see what Malfoy has lost."

She gazed around the circle of faces once more, before turning and heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" Ron yelled, eyes still narrowed.

She didn't answer and just kept walking, head held high.

"Hermione!"

She paused on the threshold. But after a moment's indecision continued forward.

One she was outside the room and down the hall awas, she collapsed against the cold stone wall and took a deep breath, feeling it shudder through her like a freight train. Hard and painful.

"Was any of that true?"

She gasped and looked up, only now seeing Draco leaning against the opposite wall, eyes guarded and a fringe of angelic blond hair touching the tip of his nose. She had the oddest urge to push it back.

"All of it," she answered truthfully. "To be honfest, a few days ago I would never have just done that. But… I don't know, something changed. And besides, it is Easter, we're supposed to forgive."

"You'd forgive me for everything I've done?" He took a step towards her and she felt herself take one towards him, eyes meeting his and causing her breath to quicken at the hypnotizing gaze.

"Everyone deserves a second chance." She was surprised her voice came out so calm, her heart was racing for reasons unknown. She was almost touching him now, not even an inch seperating them. Could he hear her heartbeat?

He laughed lightly at that, the sound unlike the scoffing he normally showed. She found she rather liked it and the way his eye ssparkled and crinkled up. "I think I'm past a second chance, Granger."

"Well, three's the charm." Her voice was breathier than she would have liked. What was he doing to her?

He smirked. "Then will you forgive me for this?"

"For wh—?"

She was cut off as Draco closed the distance between them and pressed his lips against hers, melting into her like a piece of delicious chocolate. She returned it with equal gentleness, enjoying the feeling of his hand coming up behind her and cradling her head, pulling her closer against him. His lips were like rose petals, so full and sweet and she deepened the kiss, eyes closed in the moment.

When they broke apart, Hermione looked up at him with cheeks tinged pink and a sparkle to her eyes that Draco had never seen before.

"I'll forgive you on one condition," she whispered.

"What?"

"Kiss me again."

He happily obliged.

**Author's Notes:**

EDIT: Made a few, minor changes to help with the scene flow. This is what happens when I most something as soon as I finish, I forget a few little details.

Written for a challenge on Rivals In Love. Had to deal with an Easter theme and the line "Why in Merlin's name have you brought that?" although I did a little tense rearranging. I wanted to convey the theme of Easter with a hopefully believable romance. I know it was quick, but I feel like based on their interactions that's a good place to start (and end).

I know I should be working on other fics, but I've been so bogged down with my creative writing class and stress this seemed like a good idea. Hope you enjoyed. Have a happy Easter (although it's still a ways off).

Reviews are like jellybeans; they make me happy. The red ones especially. Thanks!

**Disclaimer: **Don't own!


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